How does a theatre production come to life? We often think of sound, performance, and the play itself, but what about the stage it’s set on? We sat down with Leslie Travers, an award-winning stage designer whose credits include Manon Lescaut at La Scala, Salome at Santa Fe Opera, and Death of a Salesman at the Manchester Royal Exchange, for a conversation about where the design process begins, the art of letting go of creative ideas, and the beauty of cultural differences.

MADINA TULAKOVA: Going back to the beginning, or maybe even now, what was the play or production that you saw that really made you understand the power of stage design?

LESLIE TRAVERS: There is a very specific production which fits that perfectly. I grew up in the northeast of England, in a small seaside town called Hartlepool, which had no theatre whatsoever. But it felt so distant to...